


Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M.

by CharlotteM23



Category: Simon & Garfunkel
Genre: AU, Artie's kind of got crackhead energy, Fatherhood, Fluff, Gay, Happy Ending, Him crying makes me saddd, Hurt/Comfort, Husbands, Married Couple, Nightmares, One Shot, Paul and Artie are dads, Paul's the rational one, Romance, Sad, Short & Sweet, Short One Shot, We love their dynamic, dads, gotta love them, james is the cutest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:21:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,264
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27298570
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CharlotteM23/pseuds/CharlotteM23
Summary: Paul and Art put their son, James, to bed. He has a bad nightmare, though, leading him to go to his dads for comfort.
Relationships: Art Garfunkel/Paul Simon
Comments: 24
Kudos: 16





	Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! This is my first S&G fic and I actually kind of love it!
> 
> This was real spur of the moment, inspiration really tends to strike me in the middle of the night, lol.
> 
> Anyways, this is just some really cute comfort fluff. I couldn't find any fics with Paul and Artie as dads and I really really wanted to, so what better idea than to write it into existence myself, huh? 
> 
> *It isn't really important at all in this fic, but Paul and Artie aren't famous. I made Paul an English teacher, which I'm kind of vibing with, and of course, Artie's an architect (that doesn't show up in this fic, though). :)

**_Tuesday night, 8 P.M._ **

* * *

“Come on, you little rascal, time for bed!” Art chuckled, scooping his rambunctious four-year-old son up into his arms. The young boy had been bouncing and doing somersaults on the couch for the past ten minutes, a pastime his dads had been trying to put an end to.

“Daddyyy, just five more minutes?” James pleaded, his charming demeanor almost swaying his father.

But, gathering his composure, Art replied with a “No way Jose! You’ve got preschool tomorrow!”, tousling his little boy’s golden curls. Heading to his bedroom, James straightforwardly demanded, “Papa must read me a bedtime story and you have to sing me a song, though, ok?”

Amused, Art agreed, laying the child down onto his bed. “Now, you get into your pajamas lickety-split; Papa will be back in a couple of minutes to help you brush your teeth”. 

“Ok, Daddy!”, James chirped, rushing off his bed and towards his closet, eager for his bedtime story and song.

Art, completely enamored with his son, walked towards him and Paul’s bedroom with a grin on his face. Entering his bedroom, he came across his husband, hard at work at his desk, grading papers. Noticing the stressed look upon his face and his tense shoulders, Art embraced Paul from behind, trying to relax him.

“My goodness, love, ease up, will you? It’s just papers, you can fail them all if you want!” Art joked, bringing a smile to his husband’s face

“Artie, come on, you know I can’t do that. My students put in so much hard work, I have to return the favor". Stressed, Paul let out a loud sigh. "Shit, I just wish I hadn’t put these off for so long. I have to return them tomorrow and I’ve barely made a dent”. 

“You’ll get it done, I believe in you. You’ve got a more pressing matter at hand though”.

“Hmm, what’s that?”

“Our son has requested a bedtime story. I also told him that you’d be the one to help him brush his teeth tonight”.

“Oh, I suppose I could make a little time for that” replied Paul, grinning, as he got up from his chair and headed out the door, just as James called “Papa, I’m ready!” from the other room.

“I’m coming James, patience!” Paul reminded. He was the stricter parent, but very gentle and loving at the same time.

After getting his son tucked into bed, Paul read James a few stories from What Do People Do All Day?, one of the boy’s favorites. Being the cheeky youngster that he was, James insisted that his father do funny voices for all of the different characters. Before long, though, James had grown visibly tired and Paul decided that they call it a night.

After placing a gentle kiss on James’ forehead and tucking his covers tightly around his shoulders, Paul got up to switch off the lights. His son’s drowsy voice interrupted him, though, reminding him that “Daddy said he’d sing me a song!”.

“Now, did he, then? I guess we’d better call the great troubadour in then” said Paul, jokingly, which got a tinkly giggle from James.

“Oh Artie,” Paul called out in a sing-songy tone, “James is waiting for his song!”

Entering the room, Art sat down on the edge of his son’s bed. After another goodnight, Paul returned to the other side of their apartment to keep on grading the dreaded papers.

In James’ room, after a short, soft lullaby, the young boy was fast asleep. Flipping the light switch and quietly closing the door, Art went to join Paul in their room.

With Paul still plugging away at grading, Art quickly got ready for bed, already quite tired, despite the early time on the clock. After reading for a while, he shut off the light on his bedside table.

“Don’t take too much longer, Paul”. A warm glow was still emanating from the desk lamp.

Not looking up, very much in his zone, Paul replied with a quick “I won’t be long, don’t you worry”. Contented, Art drifted off into a peaceful slumber.

It ended up being after midnight when Paul finally climbed into bed. After settling in under the covers, Artie scooched to the other side of the bed, half-asleep, wrapping his arms around Paul. 

“You won’t be long, huh? You asshole, don’t keep me waiting like that”, tightening his hold on his husband.

Chuckling, Paul replied with an amiable “Whatever you say, love”. Before long, they were both in dreamland.

**_Three hours later_ **

* * *

James awoke with a start. He had just had the most frightening nightmare. He was at the grocery store, a regular occurrence, and at first, everything was normal. He was holding hands with his papa, picking out food for the next week. Suddenly, though, both his parents were gone. In fact, the whole store was empty, deserted. Running from aisle to aisle, he called out for his Daddy and Papa, more and more frantically with each cry. He soon awoke, and began to sob. What if his parents were gone now? What if he found their bed empty when he checked? He had to find out, he decided.

Sniffling softly and clutching his blanket, James quickly ventured down the dark hallway to his parent’s room. Opening the door, he saw that his parents were still there, thankfully, in their bed, asleep. He padded over to Art’s side of the bed, cautiously tapping him on the shoulder.

Groggily, Art awoke, surprised to see his son by his bed at such an ungodly hour.

“James, what is it?” he whispered, concerned.

“I-I had a-a nightmare” he whimpered, breaking into a fresh wave of tears and scrambling into the bed.

Pulling the small boy into a comforting embrace, Art rubbed his back reassuringly, trying desperately to ease his son’s fear.

“We-we were at th-the store, and-and then you-you and Papa weren’t there!” James cried, “N-no one was there, and I-I ran everywhere, trying t-to find y-you, but you were g-gone!”

“Oh James, I’m sure that was very scary, but it was just a dream, you don’t have to worry even a little bit. Papa and I are never going anywhere”. His words offered no solace, though. James, still terrified, continued crying bitterly into his father’s pyjama shirt.

All Art could think to do was keep holding his son tight, rubbing his back in soothing circles and whispering softs “Shhs” to try and calm him. 

Hearing the quiet commotion from the other side of the bed, Paul awoke, sitting up in bed.

“My god, what time is it?” he asked, rubbing his eyes and glancing over the clock. 

“James had a nightmare, Paul”. Looking over, Paul did indeed see his son crying into his husband’s shoulder.

Seeing him awake, James detached himself from Art, crawling to the other side of the bed to be comforted by both of his parents.

Consoling his son in much the same way as Art, Paul murmured gentle reassurances in James’ ear as he sobbed.

“James, it’s ok. I’m here, Daddy’s here. We’ve both got you”.

Eventually, with both of his parents’ consolation, James’ tears dried up, and exhausted from the ordeal, he quickly fell back asleep.

Not having the heart to return him to his room, the family curled up together in the large bed, with Paul and Art on either side of James.

With the morning just a few hours away, all three were soon fast asleep, cherishing a few more hours of sleep until the light of dawn awoke them from their slumber.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you guys enjoyed this short little thing! Maybe if you guys like this kind of stuff, I could start a collection with dad/son shenanigans? I low-key already love these three so much! 
> 
> Comments are greatly appreciated! :)
> 
> Much love,  
> Charlotte


End file.
